On Wednesday, June 24, Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) paid a visit to “Emma’s House,” a non-profit care center for teens and young adults with special needs.  As their motto says, it is indeed a “special place for special people.”  The center provides a variety of activities, and director Debbie Elizondo encourages community organizations and businesses to participate as volunteers or sponsors.  On this visit, KIB staff conducted a craft activity from Keep America Beautiful’s educational curriculum called “Garbage Pizza.” It teaches about the different types of items that are often thrown away but that could instead be recycled, reused, donated or composted.  Each member of the group made their own “pizza” by gluing items made of materials like paper, metal or plastic to the different sections of a circle, and then talked about better choices for disposing of items than just throwing them in the trash.  To help reduce the impact of disposable bottles and to help beautify our surroundings, KIB brought reusable drinking pouches and flower seed packets, but the highlight of the day was the appearance of mascot Kirby the Toucan, who danced and posed for many pictures with the Emma’s House members, staff and volunteers.

“KIB has partnered with Emma’s House for several years, and we always enjoy visiting,” said KIB board member Karen Harmon.  “They do such a great job in providing a safe, fun and educational place for these young people to go, where they also learn skills for independence and self-sufficiency.  They also incorporate lessons about taking care of the environment into the activities, such as promoting recycling and participating in our Adopt-a-Spot program, which we feel is very important.”

Keep Irving Beautiful is a non-profit, grassroots, leadership organization dedicated to educating our community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification in order to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of our city.  To find out how you can volunteer, go to www.keepirvingbeautiful.org or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.